A poem by Alan Dugan
As an American traveler I have
to remember not to get actionably mad
about the way things are around here.
Tomorrow I’ll be a thousand miles away
from the way it is around here. I will
keep my temper, I will not kill the dog
next door, nor will I kill the next-door wife,
both of whom are crazy and aggressive
and think they live at the center of culture
like everyone else in this college town.
This is because I’m leaving, I’m taking off
by car, by light plane, by jet, by taxicab,
for some place else a thousand miles away,
so I caution myself: control your rage,
even if it causes a slight heart attack.
Stay out of jail tonight before you leave,
and don’t get obstreperous in transit tomorrow
so as to stay out of jail on arrival tomorrow night.
Think: the new handcuffs are sharp inside
and meant to cut the wrists. You’re not too old
to be raped in their filthy overcrowded jails
and you’ll lose your glasses and false teeth.
How would you eat, study and be
a traveling lecturer if you got out alive and sane?
So remember to leave this place peacefully,
it’s only Asshole State University at Nowheresville,
and remember to get to the next place peacefully,
it’s only Nowhere State University at Assholesville
and you must travel from place to place for food and shelter.
A few random poems:
- Олег Бундур – Поросенок и свиньи
- Ode–Shell The Old City! Shell! by William Gilmore Simms
- Come, Let Us Find by William Henry Davies
- Николай Языков – Записки А. С. Дириной
- Valgovinds Boat Song
- Sonnet LVI by William Shakespeare
- Event by Sylvia Plath
- Новелла Матвеева – О юморе
- Валерий Брюсов – Дождь перед ночью
- A Hand-Mirror. by Walt Whitman
- Learn
- Омар Хайям – Друг, два понятия должен бы ты затвердить
- Анатолий Жигулин – Деревья с черными грачами
- Astigmatism poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- In Sutton Woods poem – Alfred Austin
External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
Talking Writing Monster’s Page –
Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh
Poems in English
- Flowers of Sion: Sonnet 3 – Look how the flower by William Drummond
- Flowers of Sion: Sonnet 11 – The last and greatest herald by William Drummond
- Flowers From Sion: Sonnet 25 – More oft than once death whispered by William Drummond
- Faith by John Oxenham
- Exodus Of The Heart by Wilmer Escovar
- Everymaid by John Oxenham
- E.A. Nov. 6, 1900 by John Oxenham
- Don’t Worry by John Oxenham
- Dedication by Wole Soyinka
- Darkness And Light by John Oxenham
- Countrywomen by Katherine Mansfield
- Cold by Witt Wittmann
- Civilian and Soldier by Wole Soyinka
- Cigarettes And Whiskey And Wild, Wild Women by Anne Sexton
- Bring Us The Light by John Oxenham
- Better And Best by John Oxenham
- Because I’ve Learned by William Ellery Leonard
- Alone You Passed by William Ellery Leonard
- All’s Well! by John Oxenham
- Aftershock by William Marr
More external links (open in a new tab):
Doska or the Board – write anything
Search engines:
Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)
Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.
Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees
Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.
Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.
Parallel Translations of Poetry
The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works

Alan Dugan (1923 – 2003) an American poet, a contemporary classic of American poetry.